Esther (Suddreth) Stewart

Esther Suddreth Stewart
Mrs. Esther Ruth Suddreth Stewart, 90, of Charlotte, went to be with the Lord on Thursday, December 18, 2025, at her son’s home in Charlotte. A lifelong resident of Charlotte and the
NoDa neighborhood, she was born on May 1, 1935, at the family homeplace in Charlotte, 716 Charles Avenue, youngest daughter of the late William Albert Suddreth and the late
Lula Mae Moore Suddreth.

Esther graduated from Charlotte Technical “Tech” High School in 1953. After employment at Tech High School and Associated Transport, she embarked upon a 40-year career at
Frederickson Motor Express in 1958, working in the accounts receivable, cashiering, payroll, personnel, and insurance departments before her 1998 retirement. In the years
following her retirement, she became involved with the monthly luncheon for those who graduated from her high school, the Tech High Lunch Bunch, for which she most recently
served as cashier and registrar.

Esther loved the Lord and was a lifelong Pentecostal Christian, having walked with Jesus from a young age. Reading through the entire Bible each year was an important part of her
walk with God, as was a life of fervent prayer. She was a member of Garr Memorial Church for the first 50 years of her life and later joined the newly-formed Christian Life Center in
1985. At both of these churches she served in Sunday School ministry for a combined total of nearly 60 years, volunteering as second grade girls’ Sunday School teacher, children’s
church leader, and later Sunday School secretary as time progressed. Since 2016, she has been an active member of Central Church of God and formerly attended the In His Likeness
Sunday School class and Primetimers dinners there.

Esther was a talented cake and dessert baker and loved to show her love to family and friends alike through baking cakes for many diifferent occasions, or just because she came
to visit. She also was an excellent cook, and her family remembers many classic meals eaten at her table. She enjoyed traveling, collecting hundreds of coffee mugs over the years
from all over the country and the world, doing puzzles and Word Searches, keeping up the family tree, and reading, as well as staying in touch with family and friends and sending a
card for every occasion. She especially relished time with her three grandchildren, who were the apple of her eye, and she and her husband Johnny were frequent babysitters and
were at every event their grandchildren were involved in as they grew up.

Esther had a heart to help those in need, as was seen in her and Johnny’s care for elderly family members and friends over the years through visits and taking relatives to appointments, the grocery store, church, and out to eat.

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Stewart was preceded in death by her husband of 57 years, John Tillman “Johnny” Stewart, in 2014, to whom she was a faithful and devoted wife. She
was also preceded in death by three sisters, Mae S. Van Camp, Mattie G. Suddreth, and Willie S. House; two brothers, W. Clarence “Buster” Suddreth and Alfred G. “Red”
Suddreth; and by a special cousin, Margaret S. Padgett.

Esther is survived by her loving son, Chris Stewart and wife Paulette of Charlotte; three grandchildren, Jared Stewart of Charlotte, Grady Stewart and wife Casey of Athens, GA,
and Claire Raiford and husband Jarret of Huntersville; one great-granddaughter, Laney Ruth Raiford of Huntersville; and by numerous nieces and nephews and many cousins and
friends.

Services will be held on Tuesday, December 23nd at Carolina Funeral Service & Cremation Center, 5505 Monroe Road, Charlotte, NC 28212. Visitation will begin at 10 AM until 11AM, with a service to follow officiated by her grandson Jared Stewart and the Rev. Bree Snow, Assistant Pastor of Church of the Apostles. . Interment will follow at Sharon Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Esther’s grandson’s church, Church of the Apostles Charlotte, 2004 Park Drive, Charlotte, NC 28204, or to Novant Health Hospice and
Palliative Care, 324 N. McDowell Street, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28241.

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